Can't put a price tag on travel, in my book. Love it. Very fortunate to have this opportunity. Auckland is a beautiful city.

Eh. At least the main dude was cool. Screw the assistant.

Went birding in one of the parks just a bit ago. Pretty nice overcast light going on. Oh. and the 70-200 is proving to be great. I've used it a ton in the week I've been here.









I was really surprised to see a wild rooster/chicken in the middle of a city park. Not sure what was up with that.

 

I thought about that 70-200 my self. I've heard so much good about it.

I almost hit a wild turkey pulling into Mammoth Cave. Dude was just chillin' by the road side. And then walking into the woods, a young buck (had sticks for antlers) came strolling across the entire pack. You can tell he's lived there a bit because humans didn't scare him, and he hopped up the hill, and just watched us walk by.

Those last two BTW are great.

 

I definitely recommend it! It's a little pricey. But compared to the f/2.8 versions, it's not bad at all. The VR is pretty amazing. I can shoot still subjects at 1/20 sec at 200mm and get a decently sharp shot.

Turkeys are so dumb. They have such a minute sensitivity for danger, it seems. It's funny how comfortable some animals get after a while, while others freak the f*ck out as soon as they see a human.

And thanks!

 

I think it depends on their nature (food chain level) and where they are. Seems the ones that grow up in area's of heavy population with low death rate (national parks) are more user friendly. lol

 

yeh. sounds like a pretty solid hypothesis.







More random stuff cuz this thread is deeeead

 

Here's a Gorilla, kissing it's current care taker.

Shot this today at the Cincinnati Zoo. I love being unemployed. lol

 

Thats awesome, man.
Love photographing animals.

 

You should read the Story with Photos thread then. 2 Polar bears telling a story with photos.

Also here's a monkey peeing on his hand.... And drinking it.




Goes down smooth!

 

Today's adventure, Wright Patterson Air Force Base and Museum. I've been here probably 10 times in the last 2 years because it's such an awesome place, and only cost gas money to go. (no admission)

Today I focused on some of the planes outside instead of the interior planes on display. Shot these with the sigma 10-20mm.





What was kind of cool was while I was walking around at the small outdoor gallery, there was a pretty good size passenger jet doing touch and go's at the base. Pretty sure it was a passenger/trainer version of the C17.

 

You guys make me feel bad. I haven't touched my camera in weeks. Hopefully I'll find something to shoot tomorrow.

 

2 things I live by:

ABC. Always Bring Camera, and always use your camera!

That iPhone commercial about "more photos are taken with an iphone than any other camera", I highly doubt. Tonight I sat by the river waiting for fireworks to start. There were probably 12 others with Nikons and Cannon's mounted to tripods. I shot off about 100 shots in 20 minutes at 3-8 second exposures. I know others had to be popping off more and less than me. So at average, 100 shots x 12 cameras = More than any iphone was taking in that area. lol


And that was only in a small area. In one of the other area's I like normally shoot in, in a given 2 block radius along the river, there are 2-3 DSLR's mounted per every group of people. (parking is a bish if you arrive later than 1/2hour before a Reds game is over) So in that 2 blocks, there's probably 20-30 people shooting with real camera's taking probably the same amount of photos.

Then if you go across the river, even more set up outside the stadium. Plus the people in the stadium taking photos. Sure a lot of people have iPhones and they take a lot of pictures with them. But does pictures of your shoes, and food REALLY count as a photo? A "pic" yes. A photo to me is, something taken with a camera that doesn't also send messages and make phone calls.

 

I'd much rather carry my iPhone than my DSLR. I've been considering getting the iPhone 5 maybe tomorrow just so I can have an 8mp camera in my pocket. Back when the 4 came out, I remember watching a short film captured entirely with an iPhone to showcase the 1080p video. So the quality is there and it's much more convenient for those "in the moment" type of shots.

Plus living in a big city, I don't feel comfortable wandering around alone with $2k dangling from my neck.

 

Damn, stenger. I really like those shots of the planes. I can never get my skies to turn out that blue.. It's frustrating.

Random shots from yesterday.

 

Just leaving my rally car here on the streets. Just another day in town. lol.

Awesome shots again Ethan.

I figured out how to play with "tilt shift" effects only using light room (no presets).



And would you believe this building was built in 1935, used as a train station for years, then almost turned into a shopping mall? It now host a IMAX theater, few museums, and still works as a train yard and late nights, Amtrak station.



I always try to find the story behind what I am shooting.

 

The iPhone5 is a great phone. I love mine. But what I've learned about the phone's camera is, yes it looks good on the screen. Put it on a computer screen, and big let down! I even typically use Camera+ which gives you further control over the camera. It comes in handy for quick little things like a picture for craigslist ad, or something at a store/mall. But for anything else, my Nikon goes with me.

And I live in a large city area as well. Was ranked 1 one in cities with most violent crimes and deaths from them. But I still feel OK with my camera. Most people just look at me funny, but never have had someone reach for it. I think in the daylight they see my mono pod as a good weapon against them. Because at full collapse it looks like a police baton. lol

 

 

I'm not too fond of the iPhone 5 camera. Maybe I'd like it more if i had an app like camera+. Mine underexposes almost every outdoors shot. It's annoying.

 

Camera+ will let you pick what area to expose, as well as focus on.

 

 

aaaaaron, was ur tc at west coast cutsoms cuz it fly as f*ck!!1!

EDIT:I uploaded like.. 50 shots of the Auckland Zoo from earlier today. Here are a few shots, but check out my photostream for a ton of animal photos.

Also, i'm sorry for blowing up this page. I'll show more restraint.

www.flickr.com/photos/ethan_lowry